The last PPP forum for the year took us down to the amazing Flinders Hotel. If you haven’t heard of it (most people have), this venue has transformed from a small-town pub to a very popular destination that bring in foodies from far and wide. It’s certainly a must-see down on the Mornington Peninsula.
Brian Kearney from the AHA (Vic) kicked things off with an update on the penalty rate issue currently being heard at Fair Work Australia, and discussed the expected outcomes from the hearing. We also heard that the ball has been bounced on the post-2022 Gaming Entitlement review, which will also encompass some liquor reform.
Tim Powell from CUB spoke about the brewery’s intention to deliver value adds to hotels, which they intend to do by having a full 360-degree understanding of the industry. This will enable them to tailor their solutions to better match the pub environment. Also Melbourne Bitter is available on tap – but only to selected venues! Who’d have thought that be the case ten years ago?
As always, Andrew Breese from Cooking The Books was very animated in his talk about the return of the prima donna chef, and discussed ways of getting them to work with the venue to achieve the same goals. He gave a brief demonstration which looks a lot like the kitchen of the future, where a detailed video is created for each menu item for the cooks to follow on tablets, creating great consistency across all of your food offer. And kids meals – don’t just go for the deep fried stuff anymore, even the littlies are refining their tastes so put some good eye-catching and tasty meals in front of them to really engage with your family customers.
We discussed a few things to be careful of when lodging activity statements or tax return – particularly that the Australian Taxation Office are always benchmarking you, so be prepared! We handed out our flyer – AHA – How Is My Pub Performing – and met with great publicans, old and new.
Next event is the year-end party in December, where the winner of the Perfect Pour will be decided. Looking forward to it!
Contributed by David Gow
